Doug, Paul and Mike (Leadfoot) all give good reasons why CAC has been an aid to collectors, dealers and coin collecting in general. One additional thing to mention is the man behind CAC, John Albanese, is one of the most respected pair of eyes in the field. His reputation is a real driver behind the company.
According to a press release, as of March 2010, CAC had received 144,000 coins and had stickered 68,000 of them.
In truth, it does very little for me. The only reason I keep it is because of the novelty of the gold sticker. Personally, I would much rather have this Mercury Dime with a green sticker. A "+" and a CAC green bean, WOW!
But only for a very few select coins. First of all only a few coins are even submitted under the Plus Service tier. Then only a small percentage of those are deemed worthy of receiving the + grade. Which confirms what I said earlier about there being lots and lots of C coins. More than half of those submitted to CAC are C quality coins. edit - Also consider, all of those coins submitted to CAC are thought to be the best by those who are submitting them. So the CAC sticker percentage only represents a small portion of the coins out there. Imagine if you will, of the total number of slabbed coins - it is reasonable to assume that less than 25% of them would receive a CAC sticker. It also confirms that most of those who think they can grade correctly, even by what I consider to be the less than desirable TPG grading standards, - really can't.
I was going to say Doug, Paul and Mike all covered good reasons to use CAC. I will also remind eye appeal is not part of the CAC process from what I have read. Now Pauls example is not what I am thinking - I like both coins, but would go with the first(just my opinion). I will also say I won(or bought) several CAC coins and they did not come with a premium for the green bean sticker(well maybe one, but I really wanted it). I have also seen one or two CAC coins I thought did not deserve the sticker - but those were because of my own personal reasons and maybe I was focusing on part of the design I should not focus on. I will say this - I was researching an IHC on EBAY list for about $200 more that auctions on Heritage. It took me a day(around work) to research it, when I got home someone bought it for less than I was going to offer - but still about $120 over heritage auctions. But this coin was a beauty and worth the premium in my mind - even without the sticker(but I am sure it helped it sell). Just my opinion.
CAC attempts to take on the concept of PQ (or solid for the grade) and this can be very subjective. It is a closely held group of owners (Legend Numismatics among one and some wealthy backers) who appear successful in marketing expensive coins over $1000 with big markups vs the CDN. The CAC greenbean is their vehicle to do this. I believe it is mainly a fad (like some of the huge prices on mods in 70), a sort of Numismatic Boutique. After seeing many of their coins on the bourse (and at auction), I disagree with a number of them I have seen (especially those with dark toning). I have over 20 years of bourse room experience as a dealer and operate a shop. The PCGS AND NGC + designations essentially render CAC obsolete. On average CAC coins are priced about 15% above NON CAC coins or even higher (Dealer ads in Coin World). I have found it hard to get this kind of a premium on CAC coins and consequently have no interest in them if it means a significant premium or getting in a bid war. CAC coins make up a very small portion of certified coins. Take a look at what their dealers (like Legend) are asking for their coins relative to the the CDN. If your game is to be the high buyer / end user well go for it. As a dealer, I don't have much use for CAC coins. It is a fad, like the Registry Craze and the people I know who have large numbers of CAC coins have really paid thru the nose for them.
Doug, From talking to John at CAC, it's not just a matter of A, B or C coins, although that does come into play a LOT. A big part of the coins that they don't sticker are problem coins that have made it into holders. Some of which, sans the problems, would still be A or B coins. Last Tuesday I went there and brought them 19 Barbers and an SLQ. 18 out of 20 stickered, which was a bit above average for me (I am running about 75-80% which I am told is very good) and the two coins that didn't sticker were originally surprises to me as one was in an early blue tag holder (You know.. the ones with the coin # and Series on them). It was graded as a VF25 but was a lock 35 and really could have easily graded XF40, I thought I had a shot at another gold sticker. The other was also a VF25 but a really solid coin. John explained to me that neither stickered because one had been tolled lightly to remove a scratch or ding (I missed it, so did PCGS but it was there if you knew what to look for) and the other had some spots removed, and not properly either. Sure enough, I also missed it. I have also seen him knock down coins for overdipping, artificial color, etc... A lot of the coins that don't make the grade are also problem coins or coins with lousy eye appeal. John also mentioned that he had seen coins that were 65s yet they had friction, and this really annoyed him as the coins were 58s, but as beautiful as they were, they had rub so they couldn't even remotely be acceptable as 65s. So far with my Barber Halves CAC has seen 56 of them and stickered 45 of those which I am happy with. I also did get a gold bean and this is a GREAT story too! I bought a GORGEOUS and super lustrous 1838 CBH in an ANACS AU50 holder, I sent it to PCGS, it crossed as a 55 (I swore it would 58) and it's now got a gold bean on it. Not bad for $300 eh? Bill
I guess the best way to figure it out is simple... Go to a major show and find a dealer who deals in generic Morgans or Walkers or Mercury dimes.. find a commodity coin in Gem, like an 81-S Morgan or a 40s P mint Walker, a coin that comes well struck with nice luster. There's always a few guys at these shows who will have a big pile of one date in NGC or PCGS MS65. Now, take 5 MS65 NGC or PCGS, say, 81 Morgans and look at them all, clearly you'll find one or two that will be nicer than the others. Now, a CAC'd MS65 81-S Morgan really isn't going to make a huge difference, that's a common as dirt coin that's super easy to find real nice and properly graded. Where CAC comes into play is, IMO, on stuff where it's REALLY hard to get a sticker on it. Better Saints, PROOF GOLD OF ANY KIND!, Southern (C and D) gold, more valuable seated stuff, toned Barber proofs, Capped Bust Halves in MS, you know, stuff that the coin doctors have been ruining for years, THAT'S the kind of stuff that a CAC sticker will really add a lot of value to. CAC is really tough on Saints, because SO many of the valuable ones have been doctored or grossly overgraded. A better date Saint with a green bean is a big thing indeed. I have heard rumors that there are certain Saint dates where less than 10% of the coins that CAC sees are stickered. Also, there's coins where PCGS and NGC will grade and holder coins that, IMO, they have no business grading. Chain cents come to mind... most of the graded ones that I see are problem coins "But it's a chain cent". CAC could care less that it's a chain cent, if it's got corrosion or rim dings, it's probably not going to sticker. I would think that a chain cent with a green bean would bring a huge premium. Of course, it would be a very PQ coin that would bring big money regardless.
There is one thing that does bother me about some of the coins that CAC does sticker. You know how the TPG will bump coins up a grade because of pedigree, rarity, value or color ? Well it seems that CAC goes right along with them a lot of the time. I strongly disagree with that. If a coin is a 64 then it should be graded a 64 and not a 65 because of who previously owned it.
We don't really know each other (or at least I don't think we do), but you now know of at least one person who has never spent a dime more on a coin with a CAC sticker. I sent my coins to them myself.
Here's another thing about CAC. I know lots of critics of CAC. I also know lots of people who have used their services. Never have I met or heard of one that is in both groups, i.e. has used the service but didn't like it. To me, that speaks louder than any critic or advocate could.
Wonder if they would sticker a certain 1804 Token, I mean Dollar that's been subject to some gradeflation..... hmmm....
No, if they agree with the grade they put their sticker on it. If they don't agree it gets no sticker.
I think CAC also serves internet buyers who do not have the luxury of looking at a coin in-hand. Certainly at a coin show you can yourself determine if a coin is good for the grade, but given that you can make photos of cull coins look like an MS65, CAC acts as a second set of eyes. I'm glad they exist, myself. Sending them coins and having them all come back with green beans is a pretty cool feeling!
Before I go into my little rant, I'll say that you raise a very valid point, and that I have yet to see what I consider to be a bad coin in a CAC slab. CAC has been a huge help in developing my eye for coins. [Eddie Murphy voice]Hey hey hey, hey HEY hey hey[/Eddie Murphy Voice] First off, I can think of VERY few coins where it's safe to do this! I have seen a whole bunch of CAC approved coins that I dislike, not that they were bad coins, but they perhaps didn't have a look that I liked, or the toning wasn't to my taste, or they were too dark/light. As an example, I like Seated Halves in strong VF to XF with dark fields and light devices, a very specific "look" that's tough to find. I've seen numerous CAC approved Halves without this look, but bear in mind that digital photographs of a coin as seen online can be quite different to what the coin looks like in hand. That being said, there's lots of coins that I would buy off of internet pics if they're stickered... Most any genericish gold, typical Saints, $20 Libs in strong AU and up. CAC will sticker dipped coins if they feel the coin is still market acceptable to their standards for the TPG assigned grade, however I like my circ gold to have a dirty patina to it, so those I'd want to see in hand. And that goes for most any circ coin, I have a specific look that I like so I would want to see those in hand too. Now, a White Morgan? Much safer for a collector who knows the series (I.E. you know what luster should and should not look like on certain issues, etc...) A good image should give you an idea of what the strike looks like and chances are outstanding that the coin will be nice. A toned coin? No way, IMO those need to be viewed in hand. Of course, YMMV
